First Mule Deer Buck

R

Rich Lucibella

Staff
The Trip:
We hunted four days in the TX Panhandle with license for Mulie and White Tail. Saw more deer than I've seen out there in 5 years. At least 8 decent Mulie Bucks but none truly shootable. The rut was definitely on.

The Gun:
Kimber 84M in .308.
Leupold 1.75 X 6
Hornady 165 GR Boat Tail Spire Point Light Mag


The Spot:
On the last morning of Mulie Season (and last day of my hunt), Ashley spotted 4 does and then a good buck at about 280 yards in moderate brush. Miko the Monster Dog saw 'em, too, and required immediate restraint. It was decided that we couldn't leave him alone at the truck; he'd just go nuts and run the buck off.

The Stalk:
Ashley remained at the truck kneeling on PsychoDoggie. I moved off thru the cedars. Never learned whether the doleful whimpering behind me was from Ash or Miko. Crawled the last 50 yards to the final piece of brush cover and spotted the Buck behind a small thicket, broadside with a good window to the shoulder.

The Shot:
135 yards, improvised kneel (support hand pulling up on some brier branches for stability). The Buck dropped out of sight like he'd been sledge hammered.

The Aftermath:
The 84M immediately jammed.....lesson to us all:
Bolts should be run aggressively in the shoulder, regardless of whether the animal dropped. Because of the bone smack and Buck drop, I remember thinking the shoot was over. I must have casually run the bolt, with barrel down and gloved hands. We can think of no other reason why this Mauser-Type action could have produced a double feed (spent cartridge in the chamber).

As Ashley ran up and Miko ran by, I was cursing the rifle and preparing to turn it into a tomato stake. We both suspected a spine shot, due to sound and reaction, and game is famous for recovering from same. We finally got the rifle back in action as we moved off, only to find we'd lost the exact spot of the hit.

Rich heads back to find the shoot spot. Calls to Ashley, "Look to your right, where Miko is." DOH! Miko was already snacking on fur and butt when we got there.

The Hit:
Above front shoulder, 2" high of body centerline. The 165 Grainer (and collateral bone missiles) took both lungs, top-o-heart and underside of thoracic spine.

The Buck:
6 X 5 Rack in great condition. Not the largest taken off the Ranch by a long shot, but my very first.....and larger than Ashley's :cool:

Memorable Hunt.
Rich

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Nice buck. Ever hunted Iowa Rich? = Bigggggg whitetail roaming about...:)

Thanks for the story & pics!

12-34hom.
 
12-34:
I hunted Council Bluffs a bit in my Grad School days, with some success. Course, it wasn't fair to bait them nurses the way we did. :D
Rich
 
Man, that is awesome Rich. He looks like a real monster to me. I'm quite jealous. Good shot and congrats.

everyone knows those kimbers are pos's. jk! :)
 
Great deer. Miko sure looks proud! Looks like the .308 did the job. Good shooting! :)

I had the opportunity to shoot a Kimber rifle this Summer. They make a nice rifle. Is the Kimber made with a standing ejector? IIRC, with a standing ejector, the harder you move the bolt, the farther the case is ejected. Double feeds are no fun (been there, done that). I'm glad things worked out well.
 
Is the Kimber made with a standing ejector?
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Fremmer-
Correct. The Kimber is a direct copy of the Mauser action: Controlled feed, full claw extractor and fixed ejector.

We know the double feed was not due to a short stroke because you simply cannot pick up a new round without the old one being ejected. But we do assume Operator Error for pretty much the same reason. The weapon cannot be fired out of battery, so that full claw extractor had hold of the case. It later ejected it neatly. Here's what we ASS-ume.

Rich shoots and sees Buck drop.
Rich stands and lowers rifle, muzzle down.
Rich runs the bolt casually with gloved support hand wrapped around receiver.
Unknown to Rich, fingers keep spent case from ejecting and it falls back into the chamber as new round is picked up.

Only explanation we can come up with.

______
As to the rest, this is not a monster Mulie, from what I'm told. Charts show him at 206 lbs, fully intact. But he's definitely wall hanger material for this shooter.
Rich
 
Congtats on a really nice buck! Last day too, how cool is that?!?!?

Looks like Miko's posed down for some pix before too (and he's sporting some pretty nice gear as well!) Nice job all around!!!!
 
Rich, that's a fine buck. And by "fine buck," I mean I hate your guts.

Wow. That's a classic find and stalk.

Friends, I've been out on that ranch, and this was not a high fenced area. This was not a feeder buck. This buck was scouted for and paid for by sweat hunting.

The Hit:
Above front shoulder, 2" high of body centerline. The 165 Grainer (and collateral bone missiles) took both lungs, top-o-heart and underside of thoracic spine.
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Utterly perfect, in other words. I'm EXTREMELY fond of the high shoulder shot for this reason. That hit to the ventral edge of the thoracic spine is a stone-cold killer, with the shoulder being excellent backup to the anchor, and the lungs completing the perfect shot. To hit the heart, you had to send bone down; it's just too far down (ventral) from the spine. That's fine-- that's why you don't use namby-pamby 150g (or worse-- 130) bullets in your deer rifle.

Any idea what he weighed? Any idea what velocity that load puts out of your rifle? (Any idea how jealous I am of that buck?)

Did you get any indication of how well the bullet held up?


BTW, I had the EXACT same situation happen one day when I tried to bolt a follow-up round in a Ruger M77 (old style). I felt pretty good about the hit, but saw my buck standing 150 yards away, staring at me. I was sure I could put one through his chest, if I could... just... close... the bolt. Finally I looked down, opened the bolt, dropped the floorplate to the magazine, manually removed the empty from the chamber, and pulled a single round from the 9 I kept on the butt cuff of the rifle, put in manually into the chamber, closed the bolt, and threw the rifle to my shoulder, with the floorplate clanking under the rifle. He was gone. 15 minutes later, we found him in a bush not 15 yards away from there. Every time I've ever cycled that rifle briskly, I've had it function properly. The Ruger M77, BTW, is a Mauser-type action.

Looks like Miko picked up his first big-game recovery.

Great job!
 
I'm EXTREMELY fond of the high shoulder shot for this reason.
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I'm with you on this, Matt. Tradition argues for a shot 1/3 up the body in line with the leg. But I think this is only valid when the round is marginal or the game needs to be broken down (Cape Buff)

I'm now more inclined to shoot the midline of the body. A bit high and you still get lungs and perhaps aorta or spine; a bit low and you get heart; a bit back and you at least have a strong double lung shot. Plus, the shoulder is less likely to be damaged.

Any idea what he weighed?
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From the field dressed weight, he was calculated at just over 200 lbs intact.

Any idea what velocity that load puts out of your rifle?
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Uncertain. Hornady calls that round at a nominal 2880 FPS at muzzle, so I'd assume it's somewhere north of 2800 out of the Kimber. Personally, I'd prefer a 180 grainer, but they don't offer that weight.

Did you get any indication of how well the bullet held up?
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Unknown again. It disappeared on the far side of the spine and must have angled down into the heart, lungs or other organs. Was just too cold to find. Given the work involved, Ashley was pushing for me to use the .338 Blaser on the hunt. I can't argue...an acute quartering shot or just a bit-o-branch with the .308 might have produced a very different outcome.

Rich
 
Did you get any indication of how well the bullet held up?
Click to expand...

Unknown again. It disappeared on the far side of the spine and must have angled down into the heart, lungs or other organs. Was just too cold to find. Given the work involved, Ashley was pushing for me to use the .338 Blaser on the hunt. I can't argue...an acute quartering shot or just a bit-o-branch with the .308 might have produced a very different outcome.
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Hold the phone-- you mean to say that the 165g did not exit, at all?!? I'm surprised, with that near-perpendicular shot. Yeah, a 180 would give better sectional density. Doesn't Winchester offer their FailSafe .308 in the 180?

Frankly, with bucks that big (and bigger), the Blaser might well be the way to go. Add in the fact that you kinda know how to shoot that thing adequately ( ;) ), and you've got a GodHammer.
 
Nope, no exit.
I agree that the .338 would have been more spectacular, but I haven't taken anything with the little Kimber this season and just wanted to blood it.

Decided yesterday that it's time we do a SWAT spread on Blaser. I've got a Varminter in 300 WinMag on order as a dedicated stand gun; my existing R93 with optional IER mount and a LRS (tactical) are already in inventory.

Just to keep the piece "on topic", we'll be setting the LRS up with PVS 14B Night Vision (the current milspec stuff), suppressor from GemTech or SureFire and subsonic .308's. I'm dubbing it "The Night Stalker". Should be one helluva Evening Coyote/Hog piece. Denny and I will be at the annual Texas Tectical Hunt and Boondoggle in April. Great opportunity for pics and testing.
Rich
 
Congratulations!!!!

Marmark, you just don't see mule deer in THIS part of Texas. You have to remember just how many different geographical areas of the country this one state is part of!

Springmom, who is turning GREEN.... jealousjealousjealous! :D
 
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